


Theo's Surreal Mountain Climbing Adventure

by CelestialHorizons (TerminalMiraculosis)



Category: Celeste (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, and some things are a bit different, runs along the game's timeline but from theos perspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:22:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22352536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerminalMiraculosis/pseuds/CelestialHorizons
Summary: Madeline has been able to dash her whole life. She thinks this is rather mundane. Theo disagrees.
Relationships: Badeline & Theo (Celeste), Madeline & Theo (Celeste)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 200





	Theo's Surreal Mountain Climbing Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> You know when you've beaten Celeste like five times but you go back and play it anyway because it's good and you basically speedrun it but you still care about the story enough that you talk to everyone? That's this fic.

“You getting any data up here?”

“Oh, I don’t have a smartphone.”

Theo stared at the woman in front of him. He blinked at her, then looked down at his phone, and the recently taken selfie. The campfire flickered, spreading light across the old site, and finally, Theo said, “Madeline. I don’t even know how to respond to that.”

She frowned. “What? It’s not that weird. Lots of people don’t have smartphones.”

“I have literally never met anyone under sixty who doesn’t have a smartphone. Besides you.”

“Okay, so maybe it’s a little out of the ordinary,” she said with a huff. “Speaking of phones, I need to go call my mother. There’s a payphone up ahead, right?”

“I have no idea,” Theo said. “But why don’t you borrow my phone? It’s free.”

“I thought you weren’t getting any service, though?”

“No, I am. Which is weird. That’s why I asked.” He shrugged. “There must be a cell tower closer to the mountain than I thought. I’ll take it, though; the sooner these pics get on my account, the sooner my follower count rises.”

“Oh. Um, okay, then,” Madeline said. “Sure.”

“Great! Just don’t go snooping around,” Theo said, handing Madeline his phone. She hastily reassured him that she wouldn’t, then walked off towards the edge of the roof Theo had set up camp on.

“Hey, Mom…”

Not wanting to eavesdrop, Theo tuned out her conversation, and took the time to tend a little to the fire. He was glad he’d met Madeline up here; this mountain was beautiful, and what was beauty without someone to share it with? And, sure, the internet was a great place to do that—he’d be the first to tell you—but having someone physically next to you was different.

He was also fascinated with her determination to climb the mountain. When they’d first met, Theo had kind of put his foot in his mouth asking if she was getting ready to turn back; he didn’t mean any offense, but Madeline did _not_ look like the mountain climbing type. For one, it was kind of hard to see how muscular she was under her coat, and also she was just so _short,_ you know? But here she was, determined to reach the summit. It was inspiring—kind of made Theo want to keep climbing. After the amazing pictures he’d gotten, he’d thought about heading back down pretty soon, but now he was stoked to keep going. Who knew what else this mountain had in store?

Before too long, Madeline returned, handing him his phone back. “Thanks.”

“No prob,” Theo said, sliding it back into his bag.

There was a low grumbling, and Madeline looked down at her stomach and blushed. “Guess I should probably have a snack,” she mumbled, slinging her bag over her shoulder and sitting down across the campfire from Theo. She opened it up and began rustling through it. “You want a granola bar or something? I think I brought too many.”

“Depends,” Theo said. “Got any crunchy Nature Valley peanut butter bars?”

Madeline looked up at him. “That’s… specific. Also, no, those aren’t very good for you.”

“What? But they’re granola bars,” Theo argued. “Of course they’re good for you.”

Madeline gave him a baffled look. “Um… so, yeah, no, I don’t have any of those. You can still take a look, though.” She took out a KIND bar and nudged her bag over towards him with her foot.

He leaned forward and looked into the bag. There were a _lot_ of granola bars, all scattered across more substantial meals for when she needed to actually sit down and eat. He frowned; something was definitely missing.

“Madeline, do you… not have any mountain climbing gear?” he asked, looking up to face her.

Madeline froze mid-chew. She swallowed hard, then opened her mouth, then closed it again. Finally, she said, “I’ve got these boots. They’re, uh, really good for climbing walls.”

“Boots,” Theo said.

“And this coat,” she went on. “To keep me warm.”

“Mmhmm,” he said flatly. “Right. And, lemme guess—gloves?”

She blushed. “N-no, they’re kinda itchy, so I’ve just been using my bare hands.”

“How in the hell,” Theo began, “have you been climbing this mountain?”

“I’m more athletic than I look,” Madeline defended. “And dashing helps.”

Theo raised an eyebrow at that. “Like sprinting?”

“No, I mean—” she sighed. “Let me just show you.”

“Show me wha—woah!”

Theo was cut off as several things happened in the space of half a second. First, Madeline’s face hardened in concentration, and then her hair burst from its regular soft auburn into a vibrant red, almost like it was catching fire. Then, she shot forward with a crackling _whoosh_ sound. The redness left her hair as she phased through the air, leaving trailing blue locks in its wake. The campfire shuddered as she flew by it, and before Theo knew it, Madeline was sitting right next to him. Her hair flashed white as she touched down on the log, then returned to its natural color. Theo blinked as the afterimages Madeline had left in the air behind her faded out of existence, and then turned to her with a stunned expression.

“That’s dashing,” Madeline said, like she had just shown him how to use a turn signal. “It’s pretty useful for climbing, it turns out.”

“Wow,” Theo said, once he had recovered. “That’s… huh. Maybe this mountain really does have magic powers.”

“Oh, no, I’ve always been able to do this.”

Theo blinked. “You… sorry?”

“I think it’s genetic,” Madeline said, as if that explained everything.

“Madeline,” Theo said slowly, “that is not normal.”

“Well, how have you been climbing the mountain, then?”

Theo gestured to his backpack. “With mountain climbing gear. Like a regular mortal.”

Madeline sighed. “I mean I was _going_ to try to climb the mountain without using my dash, ‘cause it felt a bit like cheating, you know? But then a bridge collapsed out from under me before I even _got_ to the mountain, and I had to use it. And to be honest, I’m not sure I would’ve been able to make it through that ruined city without it; I probably could’ve, like, tiptoed around the spikes, but it would’ve been hard, not to mention pointlessly dangerous.”

“Wait, you climbed up through that death trap?!” Theo exclaimed, eyes widening.

“Um…” Madeline’s eyes glanced around, before settling back on Theo’s. “Didn’t you?”

“Hell no! I didn’t go anywhere _near_ those spikes or crazy motorized bone-crushers. Are you insane? I signed up for ice and cliffs, not some American Ninja Warrior obstacle course with a side of _death.”_

“B-but…” Madeline blushed and looked away. “It wasn’t _that_ bad…”

Theo just chuckled, shaking his head. “I can’t believe you seriously thought that your _dream_ was the strangest thing happening to you today.”

“Hey, I still think there was something up with that dream,” Madeline said. “It just felt way too vivid.”

“I feel like that’s what I’m gonna say in two minutes when I wake up and realize that I’ve been asleep this whole time. I’ll be like, ‘yeah, and this one girl could break the laws of physics using nothing but her hair. It was wild.’”

“I don’t see why it’s so weird,” Madeline said with a huff, fingering her hair self consciously.

“Weird, but cool,” Theo said. “You’ve basically got superpowers.”

“I think that’s an exaggeration. I don’t have super anything.”

“Nah, you got superpowers,” Theo said, then let out an involuntary yawn. “Whew. Guess that’s my cue to get some rest.”

“Oh, no!” Madeline said suddenly, her eyes wide and worried. “I’ve been keeping you up, haven’t I? Oh, jeez, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to be a—”

“Hey, woah, it’s okay,” Theo placated. “I kept myself up. I had a great time talking with you and learning about your wacky superpowers.”

She frowned. “They’re not—ugh, nevermind.”

Theo laughed, then stretched, making his way over to his tent. “See you on the climb, supergirl! I hear there’s a hotel after the next stretch; maybe we can look forward to some nice R&R.”

“Maybe,” Madeline said. She still seemed a bit guilty about keeping him up (which she kind of had, but, really, Theo didn’t mind). “Good night.”

“Night!”

She gave a small smile, then did that dash thing again, using the momentum to leap off the edge of the roof and sail off into the night. Theo just crawled into his tent and zipped it up. What an interesting person.

* * *

“Ow! Little jerks, get off!” Theo swung his ice pick at the fuzzy little dust monsters that were creeping towards him, knocking them away down the hotel hallway. He’d finally managed to shake off that frightening hotel manager, but then all these nasty dust bunnies had appeared. He didn’t really know what would happen if they reached him, but he sure as heck didn’t want to find out. Fortunately, they were light and easy to knock away with a good swing.

He continued moving down the hallway and got to a door that creaked open into a spacious laundry room. His attention was immediately drawn to a humongous pile of dust bunnies on his right, but fortunately these didn’t appear to be the kind that moved. He would just… stay on this side of the room.

He looked around the area; there was a clothes line that held mostly towels, and a washer and dryer pushed up against the far wall. To his left, there was a series of shelves that rose up to another hallway, and—an air duct! Theo jumped with excitement. Score! Time to get out of this creepy place! He put his pick back into his bag, grabbed onto the grate, and started tugging when he heard something thump down behind him.

“Theo!” Madeline called, standing up out of the crouch she had landed in. “Are you a guest here too?”

Theo looked up and realized that Madeline had just jumped over that massive pile of dust bunnies. Theo’s eyes couldn’t help but glance to the door that was _right there,_ but he didn’t say anything. “Hopefully not for much longer. I’m all for spooky mysteries, but this is too much. I’m gonna crawl out through this vent here. Wanna come with?” 

He resumed his tugging as Madeline answered. “Um… I’m not sure. Have you met Mr. Oshiro? I think he needs help.”

“You _think?_ He’s a creepy old weirdo.”

“I think he’s lonely. I want to help him.”

The grate finally gave out, and he fell backwards as it clattered onto the floor. Finally! “That’s very sweet of you,” Theo said as he picked himself back up, “but that Oshiro guy is bad news. You should get out while you can.”

“Well.” Madeline rubbed her other arm. “I wouldn’t want to be rude.”

“Madeline, this place is dangerous. One of those dust bunnies nearly bit off my leg!”

“I’ll be fine,” she insisted.

Theo just shook his head. “First you climb through Spike City for no good reason, and now you’re staying in this nightmare hotel just so you don’t upset some guy who’s probably finding a closet for our bodies right now? I worry about you sometimes.”

She frowned. “Hey, don’t be mean.”

“I wasn’t trying to be _mean,”_ Theo protested. “I’m just concerned by your lack of self preservation instincts. Talk about fearless…”

“I’m not fearless at all,” Madeline said quietly. “I’m scared just to get out of bed in the morning.”

Theo raised an eyebrow. “But not to climb a mountain?”

Madeline frowned. “I… I was. I remember when I got out of my car, I was scared. The voice in the back of my head kept telling me to turn around. But it just… that part of me just left as soon as I started climbing.” Then, quieter: “I wonder where it went.”

There was a beat of silence. “Wild,” Theo said. “So, you coming? Or are you really gonna keep doing chores for Mr. ‘I murdered everyone in this hotel’ Oshiro?”

“I’m telling you, he’s a good person,” Madeline insisted. “I’m staying here. Have fun in your AC duct.”

“I will,” Theo said. Then, after a second, he walked up and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, be careful, alright?”

She nodded. “I will. See you.”

Theo decided to leave it at that, and climbed into the darkness of the air duct. Behind him, he heard that sizzling rush of air that sounded whenever Madeline did that crazy dash of hers.

He hoped she’d be okay.

* * *

Theo pulled himself up over the ledge and stepped onto the raised platform. The weird torches in this temple served as fantastic mood lighting, and he couldn’t _wait_ to snap some good photos. 

He looked around from his new vantage point, taking as many pictures as he could of all the intricate architecture. Whoever built this place may have been into some weird lovecraftian nonsense, but they sure knew how to build some nice vaulted ceilings.

He put his phone down and was about to drop back down and meet up with Madeline when he noticed a large, ornate mirror on one of the walls. 

“Sweet!” he said, raising his phone once more. “Mirror selfie time!”

Suddenly, the surface of the mirror erupted into a swirling void, and he felt himself being sucked towards the glass, as if someone had opened a window on a spaceship. Theo shouted and tried to scramble away from the mirror, but its pull was too strong, and he found himself flying through the frame. 

He totally should have listened to Madeline.

* * *

“OH MY GOD,” Theo shouted, pouding on the sides of his crystal prison as he rocketed through the air. “MADELINE! SLOW DOWN!”

“Are you _crazy?”_ Madeline called back. “Do you _want_ these monsters to catch us?”

“Obviously not, but at this rate I think my stomach’s gonna—AH!”

Theo yelped as Madeline threw him forward, then dashed and flung herself into the air, catching him as she rocketed by. She stomped hard on the head of one of the monsters as she flew over it, and then hurled him into a button. The sudden change in momentum caused him to slam against the side of the crystal, and he let out a grunt; but he barely had time to breathe before Madeline’s hands latched onto the bottom of the crystal once more, and they were launched into another room.

“STOP!” Theo called. Madeline jerked to a halt. “Sorry, just—can you take a break for a second?”

“What?” Madeline looked up at him. “Oh, yeah. Sure.” 

She set his crystal down on the ground, and wiped her brow. “Whew! You know, I was pretty scared of those things when I first met them, but I think I’ve got them down now.”

“You _think?”_ Theo said, one hand still clasped over his pounding heart. “Madeline, it should not be humanly possible to move that quickly. Is that how you’ve been climbing this whole mountain?”

She scratched the back of her neck. “Yeah, pretty much. When I stop to think about what I’m doing, I get really self conscious, and start making mistakes. You know, like the whole ‘don’t look down’ thing? It helps me to keep moving, so I don’t start getting wrapped up in my own fears.” She paused. “Maybe that’s what the mountain is trying to tell me. That I should stop running from my anxieties.”

“Dude, I have no idea,” Theo said. “When you showed me dashing before, I thought it was just a little burst of speed. And, like, that was already a lot to process. I had no idea you could use it to _fly.”_

“I’m not _flying,”_ Madeline said. “I’m just jumping to conserve my momentum. Honestly, it’s not as impressive as you’re making it out to be.”

Theo shrugged. “If you say so.”

“You ready to keep going?” she asked. “I don’t really want to stay in the same place for too long.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Theo said, and Madeline picked him back up. “Just warn me before you do anything too crazy.”

“Oh, okay,” Madeline said. “Then you should probably brace yourself.”

“Wha—woah!”

As she finished her warning, Madeline dropped him onto a weird, glowing platform, then dashed forwards. As she did, the platform shot into the main room on some sort of invisible track, and the momentum combined with Madeline’s dash, sending the both of them shooting straight for the door at the opposite end of the room. Theo screamed for all he was worth as he felt Madeline shift her grip so that the crystal was in front of her.

With a deafening crash, the crystal tore through the stone door, and the two of them tumbled onto the ground. “Oh my god,” Theo said, trying to catch his breath. “Oh my god. Did we just break through a stone door? What?”

Madeline frowned. “Darn, I was really hoping that would bust you out of there,” she said.

“How are you—what did—no,” Theo said. “You’re crazy. This is crazy.”

“Well.” Madeline picked him up again. “Guess we better keep going. I really thought that would work, you know—that’s what I get for being too confident.”

As Madeline took off once more, and Theo felt the now-familiar sensation of being tossed through the air at speeds that no human should travel, he wondered how on earth Madeline didn’t realize how amazing she was.

* * *

Theo awoke from his sleep feeling refreshed and emotionally fulfilled. He and Madeline had talked about some pretty deep stuff last night, but it had been a really great conversation overall. He noticed she wasn’t in her sleeping bag; she must have gone on ahead. The summit was close, after all, and considering how fast she had been going yesterday, Theo wouldn’t be surprised if she could make it there in only a few minutes. That girl could move.

_CRACK!_

Shit, what was that? Theo glanced skyward, just in time to see big mass of purple… hair? Whatever it was, it was descending on their camp site _fast._ Theo scrambled backwards just as it crashed through the ice where Madeline had been sleeping.

“Jesus!” Theo said, reaching for his phone. If he were about to die, he definitely wanted his followers to see the epic monster that killed him.

But no monster came for him. Instead, Madeline fell out of the sky, slamming onto the edge of the giant hole. She gasped, and clawed for purchase on the edge of the cliff, terror etched onto her face.

“Madeline?” Theo said. He wanted to reach out and help her, but every instinct in his body was telling him to stay away. “What’s going on?”

“Theo! I’m sorry! I should never have—ah!” Suddenly, Madeline was yanked down into the abyss by some unseen force.

“MADELINE!” Theo rushed over and got down onto his hands and knees, peering down into the hole. But there was nothing to see but darkness. “Oh no, oh no, oh no,” he murmured, stuffing his things into his pack as quickly as he could. She’d be fine—she’d be fine, right? She had superpowers. She had climbed up the mountain through the most dangerous routes she’d been able to find, battling inner and outer demons the whole way, and didn’t get so much as a scrape. She’d be fine.

But that Part of Her she’d been talking about; if it was her evil clone or whatever, then wouldn’t it be just as strong as her?

If she were truly invincible, then she wouldn’t have fallen in the first place.

The thought sunk into Theo’s gut like a sip of expired milk. Without wasting another second, Theo slung his backpack around his shoulders and rushed off down the mountain. He only hoped he would be able to make it in time.

* * *

Theo ran into a clearing at the base of the mountain, right under where Madeline had fallen, and was relieved to see that she was safe and sound, talking with Granny. Thank god—for a while there, he’d thought that she really might have died.

“Madeline!” he called, rushing over and then leaning forward with his hands on his knees to catch his breath. “I’m so glad you’re okay! Why is your hair pink?”

“We fused!” she chirped. “We still don’t understand it, but I can dash twice now!”

Okay, sure, why not. The important thing was that Madeline was safe. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it,” Theo admitted. “What even happened back there to make you fall?”

“I got into a… disagreement with myself. So I threw her down the mountain. Which really hurt, by the way! But I was trying to leave me behind, so she had to do _something…”_

Theo frowned. “You—wait. Who threw who down? I’m confused.”

Madeline laughed, slightly unhinged. “So am I! I think it has to do with having two separate sets of memories. It should sort itself out soon. But what if it doesn’t? No, we should be fine. Maybe we should unfuse just to be safe.”

Theo stared. He exchanged a glance with Granny, who just shrugged.

Madeline, oblivious to their little exchange, went on. “Anyway, then we got in a fight down at the bottom of the mountain, but thankfully I got through it without killing her! What?” She stared off into space for a second. “Wait, no, yeah, that makes sense. So then I hugged her, which felt really good because I’ve never gotten hugged before, I mean I’ve only had a body for a few days—and then she was gone, and I had pink hair and two sets of memories, like I said, which is really confusing!” She put a hand up to her forehead. “Okay, yeah, maybe I’m right. Let’s unfuse, just for a bit.”

With a flash, Madeline’s hair turned auburn again, and a second, purplier Madeline flew out of her. She hovering in the air with her hands in her pockets, like a teenager breaking loitering laws for kicks.

“Is this the _Part of You_ you were talking about? She’s like an adorable goth Maddy!” Theo exclaimed.

“Hey,” she greeted, flashing a pair of pointy teeth as she talked.

Theo smiled. “Ooh, I like your fangs. They go great with your red demon eyes.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Thanks?”

“Do you have a name?” Theo asked.

“No?”

“Hmm…” Theo thought for a second. “What about… Badeline?”

“That’s stupid,” she said immediately. “I hate it and I hate you for suggesting it.”

Off to the side, Granny was cackling.

“She’s… she’s not really the _bad_ part of me, though,” Madeline said.

“I know! I know it’s more complicated than that. But it’s catchy.”

Madeline and Badeline looked at each other.

“It _is_ catchy,” Madeline said with an apologetic shrug.

“Oh my god. _Fine,”_ Badeline relented, throwing up her hands. “It’s still stupid though.”

“So…” Theo motioned between the two of them. “You two are cool now?”

“I’ve always been cool,” Badeline said.

“You were right, Theo,” Madeline said, ignoring her counterpart. “I shouldn’t be afraid of her. We’re gonna work together to reach the summit!”

“That’s so rad!” Theo said.

“Wait, _no.”_ Badeline floated down, looking Madeline right in the eye. “I didn’t agree to this. You said we’d _talk_ first.”

“You’re right,” Madeline said. “I understand that you’re scared. But this is something we both want to do.”

“But what if we fail? We were so close, and then we, uh. Fell.”

“Yeah,” Madeline said sharply. “That happened. But I have to believe we can put that behind us. We have to try one last time.”

“Yeah! You got this!” Theo said. Just as long as he wasn’t going back up there again. He was perfectly happy to stay down here until Maddy got back.

Badeline looked conflicted, her lips squirming around her face. “I dunno…” 

“It’s not a bad idea,” said the old woman. “It’ll still be difficult, mind you, but I’m amazed you two got as far as you did butting heads like you were. I reckon you can make it if you cooperate.”

The conflictedness in Badeline’s expression intensified. “Alright, fine. I’ll do it.”

A big smile split across Madeline’s face. She went to hug Badeline, who floated there awkwardly in Madeline’s arms for a few seconds before wrapping her arms around Madeline as well. “This is still weird,” she muttered.

“Anything I can do to help?” Theo asked. 

Badeline rolled her eyes, but Madeline bashfully answered, “I don’t know. You’ve already done so much for me…”

“Let me hold your bag at least,” Theo offered. “You obviously don’t need anything in it.”

“But what if we get hungry?” Badeline said. “All of our snacks are in there!”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Theo said with a smile.

“Thanks, Theo,” Madeline said, tossing him her bag. Then, her expression hardened. “This won’t take long.”

She and Badeline locked hands, and with monstrous strength, Badeline launched Madeline up into the sky, disappearing back into her just as they let go of each other.

The old lady chuckled as they rocketed off towards the summit. “You know, in all my years on this mountain, I’ve ever seen anyone quite like those two.”

“Yeah,” Theo said. “Tell me about it.”

* * *

Madeline had been right; it hadn’t taken long. In fact, it had only taken a bit over eight minutes for her to climb up the entire goddamn mountain, which was actually insane, and Theo was pretty sure broke multiple world records for multiple things. He’d thought Madeline had moved fast before, but apparently she really _had_ been holding herself back, if this was what she was like when she was at her best.

Theo was just finishing up the last of Madeline’s pie when he noticed that Badeline had slipped out of Granny’s cabin, and was floating outside, staring up at the sky. He put down his plate and excused himself, walking outside.

He stood beside Badeline, and she cast him a sideways look. “Hey.”

“Sup,” Theo said. “You good?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Just needed to step out for a bit.”

“Ah, I gotcha,” Theo said. “Would you prefer to be alone?”

She shrugged. “It’s cool. You’re not very draining to be around.”

“That’s good to hear.” Theo paused for a moment. “So, you’ve got magic powers, right?”

“I mean, sure,” Badeline said. Then, she smirked. “Wanna see?”

“Definitely!” Theo said. “Just as long as it’s, you know. Safe.”

She shrugged. “It’s safe enough. Anyway—sit back and enjoy the show.”

Her hair was the first thing to change; it grew full and snake-like, rising up against gravity’s wishes. Badeline, too, rose into the air, higher than the height she normally hovered at. Then she reached a hand out towards the fallen boulder in Granny’s driveway, and let out a laugh that was definitely not natural.

She clenched her fist, and the giant rock shuddered, as if she’d grabbed it’s soul. It jerked up into the air, then left, then right, following the movements of her hand. Then Badeline exploded with purple light and all of sudden there were three of her. The one in control of the rock flung it up into the sky, and her clones shot out orbs of glitchy, purple energy at it before disappearing back into Badeline’s body. As the orbs connected, Badeline shot a massive laser from her hands, which hit the boulder at the same time as the orbs. With a cacophonous booming sound, the rock shattered into a million pieces that rained down into the canyon.

“HAHA!” Badeline laughed, pumping a fist. “Take that!” She hovered back down to the ground, and then noticed Theo’s stunned expression. She blushed slightly. “Er—sorry. Was that too much?”

“That was amazing,” Theo said. “You said you and Madeline fought down at the bottom of the mountain?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“And Madeline _won?”_

“Yeah.”

“How?”

“She—” Badeline broke off. Her blush was intense, now, and she looked away, holding herself. “She kept trying to _hug_ me. I… I was so confused. Who would want to hug… _me?”_ She shook her head. “It threw off my aim. I totally would’ve gotten her if she hadn’t been making me _feel_ things and crap.”

“Aw, lots of people would want to hug you, Baddy,” Theo said.

“I don’t approve of that nickname.”

“My point still stands,” Theo said. “Like, my sister, for example. She’d totally want to hug you.”

Badeline looked skeptical. “Really?”

“Totally! Alex loves hugs. Also, I’m pretty sure she finds fangs really cute, if her anime desktop backgrounds are anything to go by.”

“My fangs are _menacing,_ not _cute.”_

“Yes, of course,” Theo said. 

They turned at the sound of the cabin door opening, and Madeline stepped out, her pack once again slung over her back. She dashed against the ground and launched herself through the air, landing perfectly between the two of them. “Hey guys.”

“It’s still so unfair that you can do that,” Theo said.

Madeline let out a little laugh. “I’m here to say goodbye, actually. It’s getting late, and I want to get back home before tomorrow.”

“Aww,” Badeline groaned. 

Madeline shot her a smile, and took her clone’s hand. In a flash of light, they fused, and a pink-haired Madeline stood before Theo. “It was really great meeting you,” she said. “You really helped me through some stuff. Er—helped us, I guess.”

“Nah, the pleasure’s all mine,” Theo said. “I never thought I’d be able to meet a real life superhero.”

Madeline shook her head and punched him in the shoulder, laughing lightly. “Stop. Hey, let me give you my email.”

“It’s still weird you don’t have a phone,” Theo said as she began scribbling on the back of a starbucks receipt. 

“Shut up.”

* * *

Once Theo was back in his car and on his way home, he called his sister. She picked up immediately. 

_“Yo, Theo! I saw your photos on InstaPix; I can’t believe you really climbed that mountain!”_

“It _was_ pretty cool of me,” Theo said smugly.

 _“It’s fuckin’ awesome! Those pictures were incredible. I especially like the creepy one with the mirror.”_ She gave a little laugh. _“I have no clue how you got the picture to distort like that. You’re a great photographer.”_

“Haha, yeah,” Theo said. “I’m… really good at special effects.”

 _“Oh, oh! And don’t think I didn’t notice the_ cute girl _you were with.”_ Theo could practically hear Alex winking through the phone. _“What’s the story there?”_

“Well, for starters, we’re just friends, _Alex.”_

_“Yeah, for now.”_

Theo elected to ignore her. “That’s Madeline. She was climbing up at the same time I was. She’s amazing; you’d love her. I’ll have to introduce you sometime.”

 _“Oh, for sure!”_ Alex exclaimed. _“Well I’m glad you had fun! I won’t lie, part of me thought you’d just climb to the first photogenic spot you could find and then turn back.”_

“That’s what I thought at first, too,” Theo said. “But I’m glad I stuck with it. It was… lifechanging.”

_“Damn. Like, life epiphanies and shit?”_

“You know how gramps always described it as a magical place?”

_“Yeah?”_

“He was being literal.”

_“Get out. Magic?”_

“Yeah. There was this temple with monsters, and dopplegangers, and I got trapped in a crystal cage.”

_“Okay, I know when I’m being fucked with. Nice try.”_

“I’m not messing with you, I swear,” Theo said; his laughter probably wasn’t helping his case, though.

_“Sure.”_

“Look, someday, I’ll prove it to you.”

* * *

**Someday Later**

“You’re so _cute!”_ Alex exclaimed, running across Granny’s porch and tackling Badeline in a hug.

Theo smirked. “This is what we call a rare times two ‘told you so’ moment,” he said. “The mountain _is_ magic, and Alex _would_ hug Badeline.”

“Look at your cute little fangs!” Alex said, pulling away.

Badeline rolled her eyes. “I hate this.”

Alex turned to Madeline, a huge grin still on her face. “Maddy! Why didn’t you say anything about having an adorable goth clone when we chatted?”

“I feel like it’s one of those things you have to see for yourself,” Madeline explained.

“I would’ve believed you,” Alex insisted.

Theo frowned. “But not me?”

“Nothing personal, bro.”

“I feel like it’s very personal, actually.”

Alex ignored him. “So what else is real? Unicorns? Dragons?”

“Uh, I don’t know about those,” Madeline said. “But ghosts are real!”

Alex’s face lit up. “No. Fucking. Way.”

“Yeah! Hold on, let me go get Oshiro. I’ll be back in like, five or ten minutes!”

Madeline leapt up in the air, then dashed down, bouncing off the ground and shooting forward. She grabbed Badeline’s wrist as she whizzed past her, and they fused just in time for Madeline to dash again, sending her towards the mountain even faster.

Alex watched her leave with wide eyes. “Woah. How the hell can she do that?”

Theo just shook his head. “Don’t ask.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I love this game so so much, and the tag here on ao3 is tragically small, so I had to do my part. Shoutout to all the other writers for this fandom btw who inspired this!
> 
> Have a good day!


End file.
